Executive Assistant

PAHO Country Offices are responsible for ensuring that the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) country program of technical cooperation and its country presence provides adequate support to the national health development process and, at the same time, enables countries to shape the sub regional, regional, and global health agendas. The PAHO/WHO Country Office is the basic organizational unit for technical cooperation with the country/ies, drawing on PAHO/WHO resources from all levels and all parts of the Organization.

Under the direct supervision of the PAHO/WHO Representative, the incumbent is responsible for, but not necessarily limited to, the following assigned duties\:

1. Arrange appointments and maintain the PAHO/WHO Representative’s calendar, receive visitors, place and answer telephone calls, handle confidential and sensitive matters with great discretion; prepare agendas and other material for the Representative for use on official trips or special meetings;
2. Handle matters of protocol; make arrangements for meetings with high-ranking officials and coordinate meetings organized by the Representative; assist in administrative issues relating to national institutions, host governments inter-acting with the PAHO/WHO Representative; maintain up-to-date lists of names, addresses and telephone numbers of Ministers, Government Officials, members of the Diplomatic Corps and any other institutions which have contact with the PAHO/WHO Office in the country;
3. Review all incoming correspondence which requires action by the Representative; review for substance, identify urgent matters and ensure that these are handled expeditiously; determine which can be answered by specific Office personnel; gather necessary background documentation for correspondence requiring action by the Representative; make recommendations regarding the appropriate action to be taken; monitor to ensure that deadlines for responses are met; follow up with various Office personnel and other organizational components on the submission of reports and correspondence;
4. Prepare correspondence, faxes, reports, email, etc. from general instructions and on own initiative; follow up on pending matters and handle confidential material; type and process correspondence, presentations, reports and other documents involving the use of technical terminology using standard office computer software;
5. Brief prospective candidates or new appointees on benefits and conditions of employment; inform staff members on administrative procedures related to official travel, annual leave, sick leave, health insurance benefits and other personnel matters;
6. Review all outgoing correspondence requiring the signature of the Representative; proofread for style, punctuation, grammar, spelling and adherence to the Organization’s standards and policies; recommend revisions to correspondence and other documents to ensure that they are clear and accurate in content;
7. Assist in the preparation of technical presentations, technical reports and articles by reviewing, correcting and/or rewriting texts to improve clarity, conciseness and coherence; prepare and verify the content of tables, graphs, and charts; follow up with staff under the Representative on the submission of reports and correspondence in order to meet established deadlines;
8. Coordinate the secretarial services of the Office, distributing special assignments to other secretaries; review all outgoing correspondence to ensure accuracy, correct spelling and punctuation and ensure conformance to established practices and procedures; brief and train new administrative support staff and provide guidance on office procedures;
9. Establish and maintain files and controlled reference material; maintain the confidential files; search files and compile pertinent information as required;
10. Perform other administrative functions such as\: compile background data for preparation of correspondence and/or reports; follow-up on the submission of reports; assemble correspondence for mailing; incoming correspondence and route it to the corresponding staff;
11. Organize the PWR's travel plans and make necessary arrangements, including obtaining airline tickets, required visas, hotel reservations, assist with spend authorizations and expense reports; prepare and assemble background materials required by the PWR for duty travel;
12. Ensure that the process for the preparation of staff members’ yearly performance planning and evaluation is completed, including the scheduling of meetings with the PWR;
13. Participate in administrative and technical staff meetings; prepare "aide-memoire" of resolutions as well as distribute them to participants; follow up the actions to be taken;
14. In close collaboration with the Administrator, assist with and coordinate the HR functions of the Office in respect of all fixed-term and short-term United Nations (UN) positions and positions hired under local conditions of employment (contingent workers); prepare and process contracts for contingent workers (consultants\: NPCs, IPCs; local positions through local employment agency, etc.); initiate and/or approve human resources (HR) related actions in the corporate information system;
15. Serve as HR Partner in the PAHO Management Information System (PMIS), and act as HR focal point for Human Resources matters with HRM at Headquarters;
16. Perform other related duties as assigned.

• Overall attitude at work\: Maintains integrity and takes a clear ethical approach and stance; demonstrates commitment to the Organization’s mandate and promotes the values of the Organization in daily work and behavior; is accountable for work carried out in line with own role and responsibilities; is respectful towards, and trusted by, colleagues and counterparts.
• Teamwork\: Creates team spirit; promotes collaboration and open communication in the team; proactively supports others; welcomes team responsibilities and drives team results; promotes knowledge sharing in the team. Proactively identifies conflicts and facilitates their resolution in a respectful manner; tactfully resolves conflicts between or with others and takes action to reduce any possible tension; effectively builds a rapport with individuals and teams, establishing good personal and professional relationships, as well as minimizing risk of potential conflict.
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences\: Treats all people with dignity and respect. Relates well to people with different cultures, gender, orientations, backgrounds and/or positions; examines own behavior to avoid stereotypical responses; considers issues from the perspective of others and values their diversity.
• Communication\: Foresees communication needs of audience and targets message accordingly. Facilitates open communication; encourages others to share their views openly and takes time to understand and consider their views. Writes down ideas in a clear, structured, logical and credible way; drafts and supports the development of guidelines, policies and procedures. Shares relevant information openly and ensures that the shared information is understood; considers knowledge sharing as a constructive working method and demonstrates awareness of the Organization.
• Knowing and Managing Yourself\: Remains objective and focused even in a “changing and moving” environment; continues to display positive behavior when facing some constraints; keeps challenges in perspective. Effectively controls own emotions, avoiding displaying them inappropriately; continues to show positive attitude when producing individual results, as well as supporting team’s work; continues to be collaborative with others, even in stressful and challenging circumstances. Sees feedback as a key element in personal and professional development; displays a high level of self-awareness in response to positive and negative feedback, accepts negative feedback positively, moving forward quickly and constructively. Seeks all relevant information for decision making from a wide range of sources; quickly learns new competencies and skills that expand role capability; shows rapid understanding of new and/or complex information relevant to job.
• Producing Results\: Prioritizes work and makes planning/Organizational adjustments as necessary; seeks clarification from supervisor on timelines, as needed. Uses feedback and inputs from supervisor to achieve results. Produces quality results and has frequent discussions with supervisor to achieve results. Is action-oriented and sees tasks through to completion. Shows understanding of own role and responsibilities in relation to expected results. Solicits and accepts direction and guidance from supervisor and team members and takes responsibility for own work and actions, as appropriate.
• Moving forward in a changing environment\: Actively supports Organizational change initiatives and demonstrates personal commitment to them, including when faced with new demands; proposes workable solutions to challenging situations. Engages in positive responses to a changing environment and promotes workable solutions to achieve own and team’s results. Welcomes, and actively seeks to apply, new ideas, approaches and working methods and technologies in order to improve own and/or team’s work processes and results; demonstrates commitment to Organizational change initiatives.

• Ability to write/originate routine and non-routine correspondence and reports.
• Ability to prepare working translations.
• Ability to plan, organize, coordinate and carry out administrative processes such as\: meetings, personnel matters, budget and expenditure records, acquisition of supplies.
• Ability to research, analyze and organize information in order to prepare charts, graphics, reports, etc.
• Ability to organize and monitor protocol arrangements in accordance with established standards.
• Knowledge of human resources practices and procedures combined with the ability to explain policies, regulations, standards and established guidelines which form the basis for personnel decisions and actions.
• Ability to coordinate, monitor and control administrative services affecting several projects and involving the allocation of work, developing/adjusting operational procedures, evaluating priorities, coordinating and supporting internal day-to-day activities, etc.
• Ability to supervise, including skills in planning, organizing, evaluating, problem-solving and decision-making of office management matters.

Essential\: Certification of completion of high school.

Desirable\: Training in business administration would be an asset.

Essential\: Six years of general office or administrative work experience, including supervisory responsibilities.

Desirable\: Administrative experience working in an international environment -including frequent interaction with high level government, executive and other officials- will be considered an asset.

Very good knowledge of Spanish and English.

Demonstrated ability to effectively use a computer and utilize software programs such as Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint and Outlook. Other IT skills and knowledge of other software programs such as Visio and Project would be an asset.

This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level.

Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to PAHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and e-Manual.

PAHO/WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

PAHO/WHO offers an attractive compensation package including an annual net salary (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance). Other benefits include\: 30 days annual leave, dependency benefits, pension plan and health insurance scheme.

All applicants are required to complete an on-line profile to be considered for this post.

Candidates will be contacted only if they are under serious consideration. A written test and/or interview will be held for this post. The post description is the official documentation for organization purposes.